Sunday, March 27, 2011

Weekend Bliss

We live a pretty simple life here in Missouri. Nothing too exciting nor boring. As I am sure you love to read about my weekend, here is how it went!

First, and actually a couple of weeks ago, I borrowed an idea from a sorority sister's blog and bought a calendar so Todd and I could plan out our meals. I had done this a week at a time, but this whole month thing has us excited for date nights! This weekend happened to be one of them. And it makes it so easy to know what to prepare ahead of time or shop for, and even Todd can help in the kitchen a time or two when I'll be late from work. Here is our little calendar on the fridge and our first meal made from the calendar, super yummy corned beef and cabbage with new red potatoes and parsley!



















Our weekend was supposed to consist of building a Habitat for Humanity home in St. Joseph on Saturday, but as Missouri/Midwest weather would have it was freezing cold Saturday. So instead we still were outside for 4+ hours at an auction. This is one of Todd's favorite things to do, and he rarely buys anything but we were pretty stoked to spend $19 on a whole lot of stuff. Plus the people watching is to die for! Here is a pic of my $8 find (included in the lot of stuff was the buffet, two organizer shelves, about 50 cookbooks and about 100 children's books!)


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I'll show you later what I'm going to do with this, but I am really excited!
 Then we went out for dinner and I had delicious shrimp! Yummmm!

We went to Mass this morning, made homemade pizza for lunch and I had a MK party with a good friend in the afternoon! Life is good and God is ALWAYS good and I'm very thankful for our very calm, quiet weekends together!

Oh, and Willie wanted to leave you with a little humor for your day! He's a pretty funny-looking guy (er dog!).


Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Life update

I am totally sorry that I have been MIA for the last couple of weeks (I'm not sure any one really reads my blog, but ehh I'd like to think so).

Here are just a couple of highlights from the last couple of weeks:

First, stop for a second from reading this and say a small prayer for those in Japan and other islands for the mass chaos and destruction going on with the tsunami, earthquake and now nuclear reactors melting. It is very, very sad and for all humankind something I hope none of us wish upon any where in the world. I pray they have speedy recovery, funds to help repair their livelihood and plenty of support as they move on from lost family members, homes and jobs.

Secondly, going back a couple of weeks...I decided upon a totally different car than my last post. I was about 95% sure I was going to walk into the GMC dealership and get the new 2011 Terrain. Reality set in on the Friday before I was going to go buy it, and thought in five years, when I may or may not have children will I have daycare, household expenses twice what they are now, a job, etc? So I decided to be smart and go with an amazing deal on a new Honda CR-V. It's cute, peppy and super reliable. So I went with it. As Todd said, "When you're 50, we'll get you that Cadillac." I sure hope so, honey!

My first new car on my own! It felt pretty awesome to walk away with a great price and cute car!
So as I've put almost 900 miles on it in two weeks, I have been shuffling back and forth to work, doing MK appointments and going to my great friend, Lacey Altwegg's wedding in Junction City/Manhattan over the weekend. It was such a special experience to be there with her family and do her makeup. She looked stunning and Kasey sure was proud of her. It was also a great time to spend some time with my brother, whom I don't see often enough. It was Fake St. Patty's day in Manhattan and he had a little fun before we went to the reception, but I was glad he came with me to spend a little time together. Our days of being able to do that are limited and I want to cherish what we have before he leaves.
I wish I took time to take photos. I guess that's why I don't blog often enough either. I have no photos!
Either way, aren't Kasey and Lacey (love the names too) the cutest!?
My job has been going extremely well. Some may know this, some might not. But in October I took a position back in St. Joseph at Community Action Partnership of Greater St. Joseph. I guess I just can't get away from doing good by my job and that's helping people who are less fortunate that myself. I do all things fundraising and marketing for the agency. I love it! I have total freedom to be creative, talk to donors, be in the community and spread the message about CAPSTJOE, and feel I am totally making a difference. I sorely miss working in agriculture, and I gave it my best shot. Maybe just the wrong time in my life. Someday I hope to find a good mix of agriculture and doing good at the same time. You'll have to read my next post to find out more of the exciting, yet challenging things going on!

Oh, and about Todd and I's adventures. Backtrack a couple of months to the day before Christmas Eve and he and I went deer hunting with his muzzleloader. He had already gotten the HUGE buck (read more about the Monster Buck here) so it was my turn to try. We went out right after work and sat in the timber near the farm Todd is purchasing later this year. We sat near a log on the ground and waited around 20 minutes (I think I'm pretty luck, each time I've gone we haven't had to sit for hours) before a buck came out. Todd was like shoot em, so I tried. I sincerely thought I had  missed him because a. I couldn't see through the black powder smoke from the gun to see where he ran b. thought I closed my eye in fear of the scope hitting me in the eye. So we looked and looked. Todd even looked the next day to see if there was any blood on the ground. Nope, nothing. Well he was shed hunting this past Saturday while I was in Manhattan and what did he find? My buck! I know a little cruel, but we honestly didn't see anything when we searched for it. I know I should have been more excited when he told me, but this is also 2.5 months after the fact and I couldn't get a picture to show for it. Todd said of course there is so one day after work this week, he made me take a photo.

I love it!
And finally, I've been contemplating a change in hair color for a while since I went to our makeup artistry school for MK back in February. I kept thinking I want to look as natural as possible on my wedding day. I went to my stylist last night and said let's go for it, we can always change it now if we don't like it. She did an amazing job and I'm officially in the brunette club and I wonder if I'll go back to blonde! I really like it! What do you think?